A liquid crystal panel used for a liquid crystal display device such as a liquid crystal television does not emit light, and thus a backlight unit is required as a separate lighting device. The backlight unit is provided behind the liquid crystal panel (on a side opposite to a display surface). The backlight unit includes a chassis, a light source, an optical member (a diffuser sheet or the like), and a reflection sheet. The chassis has an opening on a side of the liquid crystal panel. The light source is housed in the chassis. The optical member is provided over the opening of the chassis for efficiently introducing light emitted from the light source toward the liquid crystal panel. The reflection sheet faces the optical member and is configured to reflect the light toward the opening of the chassis. An LED may be used as the light source of the backlight unit. In such a case, the chassis houses an LED board on which the LED is mounted.
One example of the backlight unit including the LED as the light source is disclosed in Patent Document 1.